Book review: citizens in Europe: essays on democracy, constitutionalism and European integration by Claus Offe and Ulrich K. Preuss

In Citizens in Europe: Essays on Democracy, Constitutionalism and European Integration, Claus Offe and Ulrich K. Preuss offer a collection of essays published since 1983 that consider key issues that must be addressed by European citizens and institutions if recent turmoil is to be overcome and greater integration achieved. This volume is recommended to those looking for institutional solutions to what has been referred to as the ‘European crisis’, writes Simeon Mitropolitski

Balkan politicians, mostly immune to the influence of EU integration

Are the post-communist politicians changing their political ideologies as a result of European Union (EU) integration? Are they more likely to accept democratic norms and procedures as their countries are moving toward EU membership? The existing literature provides mutually excluding answers. This paper aims to settle down this dispute by bringing up ideological evolution of some key political decision makers in two post-communist countries, Bulgaria and Macedonia. These cases represent countries on different stages of EU integration. Findings were triangulated through in-depth interviews with citizens in both countries that took place between 2009 and 2011. These findings suggest that most politicians are relatively immune to the influence of EU integration in the sense of identity change. Some of them may move even more toward nationally based identity, looking at the EU only as a tool for serving their national political agenda. However, there are politicians who have also developed a new complex European identity allowing them to look at the political world differently, not only accepting democratic norms, but also acting simultaneously on different levels, national and supranational

Book review: between nationalism and Europeanisation: narratives of national identity in Bulgaria and Macedonia by Nevena Nancheva

In Between Nationalism and Europeanisation: Narratives of National Identity in Bulgaria and Macedonia, Nevena Nancheva looks at two post-communist Balkan states ‒ Bulgaria and Macedonia ‒ to explore how their narratives of national identity have changed in the context of Europeanisation and EU membership preparations. Although a challenging read at times, this book focuses on two underrepresented states to offer reflections on the influence of EU membership as a counter to rising Euro-scepticism, writes Simeon Mitropolitski

Book review: slippery slope: Europe’s troubled future by Giles Merritt

Shortlisted for the 2016 European Book Prize, in Slippery Slope: Europe’s Troubled Future journalist and analyst Giles Merritt reflects on the threats, challenges and unexpected opportunities that Europeans are likely to face as they move deeper into the twenty-first century. Simeon Mitropolitski strongly recommends this book to those pondering the future horizons of a presently troubled Europe

Book review: re:generation Europe: ten proposals for another Europe by Floris de Witte

In re:generation Europe: Ten Proposals for Another Europe, Floris de Witte sets out a vision for another Europe, one that breaks with the purely technocratic management of European affairs, one that listens to its public and is sensitive to its younger generation. While questioning whether EU leaders would accept such radical change, Simeon Mitropolitski welcomes the call to reform the European Union through cherishing diversity, public engagement and youth engagement and recommends the book to scholars of Europe and the general public alike

Book review: how Europeans view and evaluate democracy edited by Mónica Ferrín and Hanspeter Kriesi

In How Europeans View and Evaluate Democracy, editors Mónica Ferrín and Hanspeter Kriesi offer insight into perceptions of democracy across Europe by examining how Europeans evaluate their experience of democracy and assess the legitimacy of current democratic regimes across the continent. This comprehensive study will be an excellent read for political comparativists and Europeanists, finds Simeon Mitropolitski

Book review: Enver Hoxha: the iron fist of Albania by Blendi Fevziu

Despite the severity of Enver Hoxha’s regime as Albanian leader between 1944-85, relatively little has been written about him. In Enver Hoxha: The Iron Fist of Albania, Blendi Fevziu provides the first English-language biography of the dictator, drawing upon hitherto unseen documents, first-hand interviews and Hoxha’s own writings and memoirs. Simeon Mitropolitski particularly recommends this read to those looking to widen their understanding and knowledge of Albania and its history

Book review: policy experiments, failures and innovations: beyond accession in Central and Eastern Europe edited by Agnes Batory, Andrew Cartwright and Diane Stone

In Policy Experiments, Failures and Innovations: Beyond Accession in Central and Eastern Europe, Agnes Batory, Andrew Cartwright and Diane Stone examine how European Union accession has contributed to institutional and policy change in Central and Eastern Europe and consider whether these diffusions constitute success stories or failures. The collection serves to challenge simplistic binary models, finds Simeon Mitropolitski, showing the often complex nature of policy transfers and diffusion in the new EU nations

The role of European Union integration in post-communist democratization in Bulgaria and Macedonia

Cette recherche porte sur la dimension interprétative de l'intégration européenne et sur son rôle dans la démocratisation au sein des pays postcommunistes. Je focalise mon attention sur la signification pour les gens desdits pays que revêtent la participation politique, la compétence politique, et l’action collective. Cette signification prend forme selon des circonstances spécifiques, agencées par les relations de pouvoir asymétriques avec l’Union européenne (UE). J’examine la littérature sur le rôle de l'intégration européenne dans la démocratisation des pays postcommunistes et je distingue deux paradigmes théoriques principaux : un premier qui met l'accent sur le processus institutionnel, l’autre sur le processus instrumental stratégique. Au sein de ces deux approches, je présente différents auteurs qui voient l'UE soit comme un facteur pro-démocratique, soit comme un facteur antidémocratique dans le contexte postcommuniste de transition politique. Cette recherche ne suit pas théoriquement et méthodologiquement les études contenues dans la revue de la littérature. Plutôt, elle s’appuie sur un modèle théorique inspiré des recherches de McFalls sur la réunification culturelle allemande après 1989. Ce modèle, sans négliger les approches institutionnelles et stratégiques, met l’accent sur d'autres écoles théoriques, interprétatives et constructivistes. Mes conclusions se basent sur les résultats de séjours d'étude dans deux pays postcommunistes : la Bulgarie, membre de l'UE depuis 2007, et la Macédoine, pays-candidat. J’ai recours à des méthodes qualitatives et à des techniques ethnographiques qui triangulent des résultats puisés à des sources multiples et variées pour exposer des trajectoires dynamiques de changement culturel influencées par l'intégration européenne. Les conclusions montrent sous quelles conditions les idéaux-types de changement politique conventionnels, soit institutionnel ou stratégique, représentent des modèles utiles. Je présente aussi leurs limitations. Ma conclusion principale est que l'intégration européenne représente un phénomène complexe dans le monde des significations. C’est un facteur qui est simultanément un amplificateur et un inhibiteur de la culture politique démocratique. Les gens créent des sous-cultures différentes où des interprétations multiples du processus d'intégration européenne mènent à des effets dissemblables sur la participation politique, la compétence et l’action collective. La conversation discursive entre les gens qui composent de telles sous-cultures distinctes peut produire des effets divergents au niveau national. Cette recherche n’est pas une analyse de l’UE comme mécanisme institutionnel ; elle ne pose ainsi pas l’UE comme une institution qui détermine directement le processus de démocratisation postcommuniste. Plutôt, elle s’intéresse au processus d’intégration européenne en tant qu’interaction qui affecte la culture politique au sein des pays postcommunistes, et à la manière dont cette dernière peut agir sur le processus de démocratisation. Mon point d’intérêt central n’est donc pas l’européanisation ou le processus de devenir « comme l’Europe », à moins que l’européanisation ne devienne une composante de la culture politique avec des conséquences sur le comportement politique des acteurs.This research focuses on the interpretative dimension of EU integration and on its role in post-communist democratization. It offers an understanding of the significance of taking part in political life, becoming politically competent and taking part in collective actions. This significance takes shape under specific circumstances, which are part of the asymmetrical power relation with the European Union (EU). I discuss the existing literature on the role of EU integration in post-communist democratization and discern two main theoretical paradigms, which put emphasis either on institutionalist learning or on the strategic instrumental process. Within these two approaches I present authors who see the EU either as a pro-democratic or anti-democratic factor in the context of post-communist political transition. This research does not follow exactly, theoretically or methodologically, in the footsteps of the studies presented in the literature review. It starts from a theoretical model, inspired by McFalls’ research on German cultural reunification after 1989. This model, without neglecting institutional and strategic approaches, emphasizes the importance of other theoretical schools, interpretative and constructivist. My findings are based on field trips in two post-communist countries that are situated at different stages of the EU integration process: Bulgaria, which became a EU member in 2007, and Macedonia, which is a candidate country. Methodologically, I use qualitative methods and ethnographic techniques that triangulate findings from different sources into converging dynamic trajectories of cultural change under the influence of EU integration. These findings show the specific conditions under which the conventional ideal-types of political change, institutionalist and strategic, represent useful theoretical models. I also display their limitations that call for an alternative approach. I conclude that EU integration, as a complex phenomenon within the world of meaning, acts simultaneously as a booster and an inhibitor of democratic political culture. People create different subcultures where different interpretations of the EU integration process lead to dissimilar effects on their political participation, competence and collective action. Discursive conversations between people representing these different subcultures may also produce dissimilar effects on the national level. This research is not an analysis of the EU as an institutional mechanism and therefore, it is not research that takes the EU as an institution affecting post-communist democratization. This research focuses on the way the process of EU integration as an interaction affects political culture in post-communist societies, and via this influence, how it affects the process of democratization. It is not about Europeanization, understood as becoming more European-like, unless this Europeanization becomes part of political culture, which affects political behavior

Book review: Causal inference: the mixtape by Scott Cunningham

In Causal Inference: The Mixtape, Scott Cunningham offers a new guide to methods for determining cause and effect in the social sciences. In summarising, systematising and prioritising methodological tools for researchers, this book will be of use to all social scientists looking to validate their quantitative findings, recommends Simeon Mitropolitski. Causal Inference: The Mixtape. Scott Cunningham. Yale University Press. 2021